The Art of the Heart
by Selene Moonstar
Summary: Miya Watanabe has a special favor to ask of Ken Ichijouji, but what happens when everything goes wrong? A Ken x Miya fiction. Rated T for cursing.


Her cheeks were pink, so obviously, Ken would be worried. He was even checking her head temperature to double check his theory. She seemed just fine, so why was Miya being so nervous to see him? For the record, it was starting to worry him too.

"Miya, if you're sick, I can-"

"N-No! It isn't that… I…"

Ken slowly started to frown, wishing that his friend wouldn't worry him so much. What could be so embarrassing that would cause Miya to act this way?

Closing her eyes, Miya put her hands together, like one would do for a typical prayer, and she did a small bow to her companion.

"Can you please help me with my project?"

At the fast pace she was asking, Ken was still able to register what she was asking, and it surprised him. Surely it wasn't embarrassing to ask someone to help you with a project, was it? Just as long as it wasn't anything sexually explicit, Ken didn't understand Miya's feelings of discomfort.

Smiling at her, Ken placed his hand on Miya's brown hair, his smile being all the reassurance she needed as her blush started to fade.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Ken replied, "Of course I'll help."

The smile Ken received in return was just the thing Ken wanted to see from Miya. However, Ken remained puzzled about Miya's previous blushing. Surely a pretty kimono in the art room was nothing to blush about, right?

"Wow, the kimono looks amazing!"

There was no doubt about it: even the material was pretty soft. A combo of white and black typically worked well together, and Ken was pretty certain this might be a special kimono type: a yukata. Yes, yes, a yukata fit for a male seemed to be close enough to what was before him. Not bad at all, he thought to himself, not bad at all.

"I don't know who went through all of the trouble to make it," Ken admitted, "But they did a really good job."

"Thank you."

As Ken turned to look back at his friend, he took note once again of her blushing returning. Suddenly, it clicked, like a sudden light to fill a dark room.

"Did you make this?"

Miya only nodded, a smile beginning to form on her face.

"Well… I guess this means you put a lot of hard work into it," Ken replied, a peaceful, satisfied smile on his face.

"Do you remember when I asked for your measurements a long time ago?"

Ken looked up at the ceiling, attempting to remember when and where Miya did as she asked. Now that he thought about it, he did remember Miya asking about such a thing, but it was so long ago that it was no wonder why he forgot. Looking back at Miya, he nodded in confirmation for her that he did remember. Miya's blush slightly faded as she grew the confidence to explain herself.

"Well," Miya explained with some nervousness still in her tone, "I originally asked for your measurements to make that kimono for you."

Was that her art project: to make something special and to report on if it worked or not?

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Ken said, "Is this kimono your art project? Honestly, I believe you did very well on it."

"Oh, that's only the first half of my project," Miya replied, "You see… I was asking for your help because I wanted to sketch you wearing it…"

Now everything started to make sense, and Ken's silent "oh" from his lips showed that most of the puzzlement in his mind was starting to fade away. Maybe that's why Miya was so embarrassed earlier: she might have been worried that he would say no.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Ken replied, "I'd be honored to be your model for your art project."

Once again, that adorable smile of Miya's began to form, and it, in turn, made him really happy too. Thus, the project began to commence, starting with Ken changing properly into the kimono. For the record, Ken liked wearing it, and Miya was more than happy with the fact that he looked so well in it. What made her even more happy was the fact that Ken liked himself in it. She wanted to even hug him, but she didn't want to wrinkle up the outfit.

Ken, being the gentlemen that he was, did his best to stay still in the position Miya wanted him in, which was a simple sitting position. It was almost as if he was a gently smiling statue as Miya began to draw him.

For the first time in a while, Ken was able to observe his friend. It was a while since he saw Miya this determined about anything, and it really impressed him. Normally, she would be either really happy, or really serious about other things involving the Digital World. Ever since she was freed from the dark influence of Arukenimon, she seemed a little different. In his eyes, it was a good different, and for someone of eleven years, she seemed to be just as mature as he was.

Now that he thought about it, there was a lot he had in common with her. Both understood a sense of loneliness, which may or may not have been the fault of each. Ken also took into consideration that himself and Miya had been under some form of dark influence because of the loneliness that they had felt. More importantly, they came out of the dark influence alive and healing. Ken ironically considered himself lucky that he was under the influence first, or Miya might have been in a more unwelcoming atmosphere, and he never wanted Miya to suffer anymore than what she had already been through.

At their age, Ken was surprised they suffered so much. Then again, both of the youths were technically not normal, so the chronological order of things were different, duration primarily. To successfully go through what they had been through, they had to grow up surprisingly fast for someone their age.

Yes, Ken understood that he was the model, but he couldn't help himself but observe Miya, including little details about her: the color of dress she decided to wear, the braid he could see from his angle, and even the look in her eyes that made him undeniably happy. Slowly, the young man allowed himself to smile. No matter what anyone said, Miya was an amazing friend.

Perhaps more time passed between them in silence than Ken imagined, because Ken noticed the sound of a pencil being placed on the table, and the light he was certain that he saw earlier was partly gone. It wasn't evening, but rather the border thereof between the evening and the afternoon. Miya had a satisfied look on her face, and allowed herself to stretch for a moment. As Miya stretched, Ken looked out the window to verify the lack of light for his eyes. Indeed, it wasn't totally wrong.

"Thank you so much for going through the trouble of staying here to model for me," Miya said, her voice a bit relaxed from the released stress.

"I'm honored to help," Ken said, "So… what would you like to do with this kimono?"

"How about you keep it?" Miya asked with a smile, "I made it for you, and it looks like that it fits really well."

Who wouldn't smile at such a generous gift?

"Thank you," Ken replied, "Thank you very much."

As Miya began to put her things away, Ken was very curious about the results of Miya's work. Carefully standing up, Ken made his way over to Miya to get a better view of what Miya had spent so much time on. It wasn't hard for Miya to notice Ken's movements, and thought that Ken should have a look at it anyway, but because of Ken's angle, he couldn't notice Miya's light blush.

"Amazing," Ken commented as he saw the sketch, "I didn't know you were that good."

"Well, I've been taking classes," Miya replied softly, "So I guess all of the classes are starting to pay off."

"From what I can tell," Ken said with a smile, "I think you're just letting out your inner natural."

"...O-Oh… well… thank you, Ken, for everything."

With the atmosphere slowly turning dark, it was imaginable that they really needed to leave the room. Ken lead the way since he was already standing. Making a normal grip on the doorknob, he began to the turn the doorknob that would lead the way out.

There was only one problem: when Ken turned the doorknob, he didn't hear the clicking that was expected of an open door. Miya didn't hear it other, meaning there was one problem: as much as they wanted to leave, they couldn't.

A uneasy feeling settled in their stomachs at the idea that the door was locked.

"Oh no," Ken sighed softly, "It couldn't be that late in the evening, could it?"

"Wait, so we're stuck in here?" Miya asked, feeling a slight sense of panic coming over her.

"Well…" Ken replied slowly as he gave the doorknob another check, "It appears to be so."

Miya couldn't help herself but frown at that realization. Now that she knew what time it was, there may not be anyone around to unlock the door. She really wanted to come up with a solution, truly she did, but every possible scenario except one became void because of a critical detail that wasn't there. That one option that seemed to work was simply waiting until the evening.

Darkness began to dominate the light of the day as night began to settle. Janitors were taking a break from their business, so a small, adorable Digimon could easily pounce, walk, or squirm around in order to look for their master. Nonetheless, Wormmon couldn't bring himself to let his guard down in the other world. To simply prove his point, anyone whom was willing to take a hard look around would notice the overgrown, but adorable worm crawling on the ceiling of the school.

Why wouldn't Wormmon be concerned about Ken? Yes, he was no longer the Digimon Kaiser, but that didn't exclude him from getting into unnecessary trouble. What if he was needed and he wasn't there? That's why he was crawling around the way he was: in case he was in trouble and he was needed. Every small hair on his green body was sticking up with worry.

Well, in Wormmon's case, his hair would be pointing down at the floor. In fact, with the position he was in, he was upside down, thus his view like so. He really wished that his head did not hurt like it was right now or he wouldn't have this headache, and maybe remember the rooms that Ken mentioned a few times. Yes, occasionally Ken would mention the school, but only if he could remember the symbols correctly.

They were called numbers, right? He had seen enough in his lifetime to know what they were. This time, in his case, the order was actually important.

"Oh, I hope Ken is okay," Wormmon said softly, "My hair is standing on end just thinking about it."

"Awww, don't worry, Wormmon!"

The sudden sound of a familiar voice caused Wormmon to lose his good grip on the ceiling. Wormmon would have met head first to the ground, but a light-colored Digimon was arms open to catch the falling worm.

"It's okay, Wormmon, I gottcha," replied the same voice, being his rescuer.

"Please, don't scare me like that, Lunamon!" pleaded Wormmon as he was carefully put back on the ground in normal position, "I get jumpy sometimes in silence!"

"I'm sorry, Wormmon," Lunamon replied, "But we really have to find Ken and Miya before it gets super cold."

Wormmon and Lunamon turned their heads to the window. From the look of the window, if they didn't find the room soon, there wouldn't be enough light for them to find the door.

As the light began to leave the room, the main light that was in the room that Ken and Miya were trapped in was the D-Terminal of Miya, a small flashlight that Ken had in his backpack, and the light flickering of a light that was never completely on or off.

"I almost forgot that I had this in my bag!" Miya said with relief, "Thank you so much for reminding me!"

"No problem," Ken replied as he continued to look at the lock with upmost care.

"I wish I remembered about this sooner," Miya said as she began to type her message into the divice, "I really hope that Ryoko is still awake."

"I hope so too," Ken said, "I wonder if I can pick this lock."

"Is it possible?"

"It will take a long time, but it's better than sitting around. Plus, if Ryoko isn't awake, we'll be able to open the door ourselves."

"Good point."

While Ken digged around his book-bag for anything that might serve as a lock-pick, Miya continued her message to Ryoko. Deep down, while she did find the situation very interesting, she really didn't want to stay in here for a whole night. While the matter was exciting, she really didn't want Ken to get into trouble because of a favor that she had asked of him so many hours ago. The more she thought about how it was her fault, the bigger the pit in her stomach became.

She told herself to not think that way. Yes, it was her fault, but that wouldn't change their situation closer to the solution.

Now that she sent the message, all she could do was watch Ken and wait.

Lucky for Miya and Ken, the message went fast, allowing Ryoko's D-Terminal to notify its owner with a beep. There was only one problem: Miya wasn't wrong when she feared of Ryoko being asleep. However, Ryoko did not have the same ears Dorumon did, and it was Dorumon that heard the beeping of the D-Terminal.

"Snowman!"

Ryoko cringed at the sudden sound of Dorumon's exclaiming voice. Who wouldn't? Anyone that was asleep would more than likely be surprised at the sudden sound of their partner talking about snowmen.

"Seriously, Dorumon?" Ryoko groaned, "It's too early in the morning."

"No it isn't!" Dorumon protested, "The clock beeps, so I'm jumpy, and we have to play!"

"No we don't."

"Oh, come on, let's build a snowman!"

"Not right now."

"You promised."

"Not at midnight, though."

Dorumon turned to the clock: it was midnight.

This caused the Digimon to frown. If it was midnight, then why the beeping? It wasn't coming from the clock, so where was it coming from? Dorumon only needed a few seconds to realize that the sound wasn't coming from the clock, but rather the D-Terminal. Scooting over to the other device, he took a peak, immediately recognizing Miya's name.

"What's Miya doing, sending a message so late at night?"

Miya's name alone was more than enough to convince Ryoko to sit up in her bed. Yes, her hair was in a mess, and she had a tired expression on her face, but the sudden realization that Miya may not have come home yet was more than enough to wake her up enough. Looking through the message, energy of panic started to pump through her.

Miya really had not come home yet.

Silence continued to only be broken by the breathing of the teenagers and the sound of picking from Ken. Miya was holding Ken's small flashlight for him, so he could use both fingers to perform this necessity.

"Are you sure you aren't hurting your fingers doing that?" Miya asked.

"Yeah," Ken replied, "It's a bit of a tedious process, but I remember seeing a lock like this a long time ago. This one shouldn't be too hard to open."

"I just don't want you to hurt yourself over this," Miya said, "I was told stuff like this and texting too much could really hurt your hands."

"It's okay if my hands are sore after this," Ken said with a smile, "I really wouldn't want to be trapped in here for the evening and us catching a cold."

"Hey," Miya comforted, "If we do get stuck in here, we can always keep each other warm, right?"

Ken looked at her, a little confused.

"Hang on!" Miya tried to explain in panic, "I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was-"

Suddenly, a click. Ken was finished with the opening of the door, but he wasn't the force that sent both of them over. Instead, the force came from the other end of the door. A teenager that was older than both of the youths came through the door. Wormmon and Lunamon had voices that started to turn silent, because their plea they knew was now in vain. They warned Ryoko to not be so hard on the door, really they did, and only made them wish even more that they were the ones to discover about them first.

Ryoko wasn't in the least bit of a good mood, due to the fact that she still had the encumbrance of sleep overwhelming her. So much of this was still hanging around her mentally, that she had forgotten to change out of her pajamas when she left her house. Her head was still in the mess of a bed-head, even.

Perhaps that wasn't the most awkward matter concerning the situation: because Miya was trying to prevent Ken's fall, she too was caught into it. When Ryoko opened the door, the timing of the fall was just enough to permit Ryoko to spectate the wonder she saw now.

Yes, Ken's back did hurt, but he was more focused on the amazement he was feeling, for his lips and Miya's accidentally meet by the fall.

Being a younger sister, with her older sister catching the kiss at the time like this: it wasn't going to end well.

"That janitor was such a jackass!" Ryoko groaned, "And you, what the heck are you two doing here in the middle of the night?"

"Ryoko," Ken said as he sat up, doing his best to hold his composure and his blush, "I assure you that this wasn't intentional."

"Yeah, and I'm Frosty the Snowman."

"It's true!" Miya protested, "It's my fault that we were stuck in here. I had asked Ken to model for my art project and I lost track of time!"

Now that Ryoko allowed herself to think about it, it started to make sense. However, that didn't stop the fact that she was a little annoyed by the position she caught those two in. Maybe it wasn't intentional: after all, Ken was wearing a kimono.

The situation was awkward… maybe too awkward for Ryoko to take in all at once. In a way, she could almost swear that she was dreaming.

Turning around, Ryoko left the now open room with a groan, allowing the blushing youths to look at each other. They would have asked each other if the respective other was okay, but their timing was exact, and they knew this too, and it lead to further silence.

Miya, both out of obligation and feelings, decided to break it first.

"Um… w-we should get out of here."

"Good idea," Ken agreed.

While both were not willing to verbally admit it, they had the mutual agreement that they hoped that Ryoko was a hard sleeper. If that was the case, maybe she would forget all of this, or perhaps register all of this as a dream that she had conjured up from eating too much of something, or perhaps not enough. All they knew is that if Ryoko remembered this in detail, Ken would be in trouble of Ryoko's older sister side.

For right now, it was time to tread the snow, but the cold outside could not match the warmth that was stirring on the inside of Ken and Miya, and they knew in their hearts that it was, without a doubt, the accidental kiss that they had shared and would think about for the rest of the evening.

* * *

**Artist's Comments:**  
I'm not going to lie: this particular commission was a toughie. Yes, I'm well aware that Ken and Yolei are together in the original Digimon Adventures, but KellyK-Chan (of DeviantART) insisted on specific details. However, I hope this is a decent fiction. Like I said before: it was tough.  
**I'm going to make this perfectly clear: the part that was tough was NOT the shipping, but rather all the writer's blocks that I had during the writing of this fiction. Thank you.**  
Instructive criticism is advised.  
May God's love, grace, and mercy be with us all.


End file.
